Acts of Balance: Profits, People and Place

Filenote | OCR'd, TOC built, PaginatedActs of Balance has been awarded the British Columbia2000 Book Award."Grant Copeland is one of my eco-heroes. His call for an end tothe perverse subsidies that are destroying the very things thatgive us life must be heard as we prepare to enter the EcologicalMillennium."-- David Suzuki, ecologist, author, andbroadcasterCan profits, people and place co-exist in harmony? Doesconservation of nature necessarily mean a loss of jobs?With globalization spreading relentlessly throughout the world,such questions become more and more urgent as ecosystems everywhereare stressed to the point of collapse. Acts of Balance dealshead-on with this crisis by examining a number of case studies fromdifferent sectors of the Pacific Northwest and coming up with somesurprising answers. For example, it explodes the 'spotted owl' myth- which predicted a massive loss of jobs following loggingreductions designed to save the spotted owl - showing thatemployment and economic activity in fact increased. Similarly, thebook shows that future job opportunities exist when local residentssteward their resource base, not when non-locals have the power toplunder it.Acts of Balance concludes that community-baseddevelopment - centered around smaller, ecologically-based economies- is more likely to ensure a high quality of life and environment,and calls for a concerted effort by government, industry andactivists to redirect development accordingly.